White Lodge Centre

White Lodge Centre, Special School, Chertsey, Surrey

The White Lodge Centre has been in existence since 1963, and was one of the first buildings designed by Broadway Malyan Architects. The original building function, as a special school for children with cerebral palsy, has evolved over the years, and the buildings had become out dated. The Charity decided to employ the original architects to restore a sense of order to the complex and to improve the estate’s performance. A strategy was devised to create a series of annexes that better suited the changing use of the Centre, and also allowed a more efficient rating under the VAT rules. Sustainability issues were key.

The new structures were conceived as lightweight steel frames creating a flexible system that allowed the clients to 'plug on' more units as funds become available; eventually five phases were built by the same design team. The steel structure is expressed within the Centre, using a closely spaced grid with curved steel beams conveying a feeling of lightness. The lightweight superstructure enabled the use of a thin concrete raft for the foundations, where piles had been used previously on the original building.

As well as being the structural engineers we were also retained to deal with site drainage and general civil engineering design.